Firefighters, because of the nature of their work, are required to use fire protective clothing. This clothing includes firefighting pants and a pair of firefighting boots. The pants and the pair of boots are only part of the total protective gear worn by the firefighter however, these parts of the gear are put on first, in a very timely manner, usually before the firefighter even boards the fire truck, leaving the remainder of the clothing and equipment to be put on en route.
Since time is a very important factor in this dressing process, the firefighter cleverly has his protective gear and equipment arranged in a strategic manner, allowing for quick and easy access in anticipation of a fire call. Included in this arrangement are the boots and the pants smartly placed next to the fire truck. This arrangement calls for the pants and the boots to be placed in relation to each other in a "ready for a call" manner (see FIG. 1). This means that the pants are at the bottom of the boots awaiting the firefighter to outfit himself by: first, stepping into his boots, and second, pulling up the pants, which are stacked over the boots (see FIG. 1). The firefighter is bound from doing anything else to outfit himself until his pants and boots are put on first, then he is free to continue dressing himself in a timely manner.
Though it is important for the firefighter to have his firefighting boots and pants placed in this "ready for a call" manner, the placement of the pants around and on the boots actually begins a process resulting in an annoying problem. This problem begins when the firefighter removes and drops his pants on and around his boots, creating a pants and boots unit placed in the "ready for a call" position (see FIG. 1). In this position, the pants and the boots are not actually connected together as a unit. Since the pants are actually dropped onto the boots, the front part of the pants are supported by the front part of the boots, leaving the rear of the pants (adjacent heel portion of boots) unsupported by the boots except by contact (friction), where the main support must be provided by the floor, or the ground. The problem begins when the firefighter, responding to a call, attempts to pick up the boots by their pull straps. To move the boots and pants together, as in FIG. 1, from one place to another, the cuffs or bottom portion of the pants finds its way under the boots and continues to travel this way until a large portion of the pants are now under the boots (and in danger of falling off the boots) (see FIG. 2).
This is very annoying to a firefighter, who must now stop everything and correct this problem before a call comes in; or who must anxiously correct this problem in response to an emergency call which has come in. Knowing that time is a factor, this is a dreadful situation for a firefighter to be in, especially if the emergency or fire scene is only minutes, sometimes only seconds, away. This problem is presently reluctantly accepted by the firefighter.